An ex-Portland State University student is suing the school for more than $1.2million, claiming she was sexually harassed by a professor.

Former graduate student Whitney 'Theda' Orlando, 27, is accusing 52-year-old professor Marcia Klotz of becoming so obsessed with her sex life that the pressure gave her an irregular heart beat, according to the lawsuit filed last year.

After learning about Orlando's past work as a BDSM model, Klotz went on to exchange more than 200 emails with her student, asking for details about her sex life which Orlando claims 'blurred professional and personal boundaries'

While the university acknowledges many of Orlando's claims, they deny a connection between the student's health problems and her coursework.

Lawsuit: Former Portland State University graduate student Whitney Orland (left) is suing the school for more than $1.2million, claiming she was sexually harassed by professor Marcia Klotz (right)

The student-teacher relationship allegedly started in the fall of 2009 when Orlando took Klotz's class on Feminist Literature and became more intimate when the student began sharing pictures of her modeling work.

Klotz complimented Orlando on the pictures and asked more about her life in the BDSM industry, trying to use her student's connections for interviews and to 'locate new sexual partners interested in BDSM-style encounters'.

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The relationship became even more intense when Orlando invited Klotz to go see a documentary about a BDSM website.

Orlando, Klotz and Klotz's husband watched the film in January 2010 and Orlando says the atmosphere was so 'sexually charged' that it made her feel uncomfortable and that her relationship with the teacher 'was becoming increasingly romantic and sexualized'.

Klotz even wrote an academic paper on the documentary and referenced Orlando in the paper without naming her. But Klotz published the paper without ever informing Orlando.

Sexual tension: Orlando claims that Klotz became so obsessed with her sex life that the stress caused her to develop an irregular heartbeat

Even Klotz admitted that their relationship had become unprofessional in emails, and eventually attempted to 'conceal inappropriate messages' by corresponding with Orlando on her private email instead of university email.

At one point, Klotz learned that Orlando had been sexually abused by a middle school teacher but still continued their sexually-tinged relationship nonetheless.

Separated: After 10 years teaching at Portland State, Klotz (pictured) took a job at the University of Arizona in June 2013. Orlando is now studying at nearby Marylhurst University

The relationship began to impact Orlando physically in January 2012 when she started work for the Robert E McNair Scholars Program. Klotz had recommended her for the research course and insisted she take up a topic related to her child abuse.

In the course of Orlando's research, Klotz made her read the court file on her own childhood sex-abuse case as well as audiotapes from other similar prosecutions in the area.

But the stress of uncovering childhood wounds proved too much for Orlando who was admitted to the hospital the following September for an irregular heartbeat.

She blames the heart problems were brought on by the stress of the research and tried to change the topic of her coursework - something Klotz was strongly against.

When Orlando switched mentors and submitted a paper on stress management instead, Klotz allegedly told the McNair program coordinator that she believed the paper had been plagiarized since it was 'too polished'.

Those allegations led to another visit to the hospital for Orlando who is now claiming the scandal surrounding the paper damaged her reputation in the academic community and hurt her career opportunities.

She is suing the school for $250,000 in lost income and non-economic damages of $1million for attorney fees and costs.

Orlando has since transferred to nearby Marylhurst University while Klotz, who taught at PSU for 10 years, is now teaching at the University of Arizona.

The university does have a policy against harassment, discrimination and retaliation, but say Orlando never formally complained about Klotz before the lawsuit.

In a strange twist, Orlando wrote a rave review of Klotz on the POrtland State website in 2012, saying she never would have considered persuing her PhD 'without the persistent encouragement that I received from Marcia Klotz, PhD. It is to her that I owe my academic fervor'.